Global National: March 13

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a law that will force TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the popular platform, or else it will be banned in America. How some influencers are worried about the move, what comes next, and what an American ban could mean for Canadians. GC Strategies was paid $19 million to create the controversial ArriveCAN app, according to the Auditor General Karen Hogan, placing the two-man company under intense scrutiny. Now MPs have had the chance to grill Kristian Firth, one of the company’s partners. How Firth was on the defensive before a House of Commons committee; what he claims he was actually paid; and the questions he refused to answer. Leonid Volkov, the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Nalvany’s former chief of staff, has been attacked outside his home in Lithuania. How Volkov says this is a “gangster hello” from Russian President Vladimir Putin; what Volkov said just one day before the assault; and the extent of his injuries. With Saltwire Network, Atlantic Canada’s largest media group, filing for creditor protection, there are fears for the future of local news. How some outlets have found a way to thrive, while others are struggling. And the remarkable life of polio survivor Paul Alexander. How he spent more than 70 years mostly confined to an iron lung, yet managed to inspire millions of people.